A special forest department drive in Khagrachhari has rescued an endangered Asiatic black bear, six barking deer and two monkeys. The animals were recovered on the morning of Tuesday 6 January from the garden house of former union parishad (UP) member Nabadwip Chakma in the Tentul Tala area of Khagrachhari Sadar.

Khagrachhari divisional forest officer Md Farid Mia said the animals were rescued from Tuesday morning in a joint drive by the Khagrachhari Forest Department and the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division. The man who had been keeping the animals has realised his mistake and has given an assurance that he will not do this again, he said.

Former UP member Nabadwip Chakma said people had hunted these wild animals at different times to sell and to eat. "Whenever I found out, I paid them and bought the animals to keep them safe. If these animals keep being hunted like this, in a little while these rare species will not be found any more," he said.

"So I kept them from different places, and some time ago I spoke to the forest department and asked them to come. Today they came and took the animals. They will be conserved by the government," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.